There are many devices on the market and found in the literature which purport to automatically set a hook in a fish so that a person using the device can operate a number of such devices and hence increase his catch at any time. Many such devices are spring-loaded, involving the release of a latch after a fish has taken a substantial bite at appropriate bait so that a mechanism will quickly pull the line and hook and, hopefully, set the hook in the fish's mouth. Other devices have flags or other signalling aids attached thereto so that the fisherman will easily see when a fish has been caught. Examples of prior art devices are taught in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,578,887; 2,924,038; 3,852,905; and 4,382,346.